A Well-Kept Secret Within a Well-Kept
Secret
Hidden along North Carolina's Crystal
Coast is a gem of a place called New Bern. Once the royal colonial
capital of North Carolina and the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, it stands
today as a charming little coastal town with a rich history and a lot
of interesting nooks and crannies to explore. It's kind of a
well-kept secret, the kind of place you have to know exists in order
to know it exists. I visited New Bern once back around 1977 and recently decided it was time to reacquaint myself. My wife had a
hankering for some beach time and, having explored much of Florida
and hit all the South Carolina beaches from Folly to Myrtle, we
thought we'd see what the Atlantic looked like a little farther
north. Remembering New Bern from way back when, I thought it would be
a perfect place from which to base our adventure.
Always on the lookout for good places
to eat – particularly good Italian places – I stumbled upon
another well-kept secret in the form of a little hideaway called
Aperitivo. And
I do mean “well-kept secret” because nobody in New Bern knows
it's there. I only found it through an Internet search and then only
because it popped up in conjunction with another restaurant.
Here's
the deal: there is a well-established establishment called Lawson's
Landing Cafe attached to the relatively new North Carolina History
Center at Tryon Palace. It's located on the banks of Lawson Creek
near the confluence of the Trent and Neuse rivers at the point where
South Front Street makes a big loop around Tryon Palace. Everybody
knows where Lawson's Landing is
and it comes generally well-recommended by the locals. However, what
everybody apparently does not know
is that when the History Center shutters at 5 pm, Lawson's Landing
Cafe morphs into Aperitivo, a place where one can “enjoy the fine
taste of Italy.” And a truly fine taste it is. Too bad nobody knows
it's there.
It's my
understanding that this is a relatively new concept restaurant. They
tell me they have some ads running here and there. But not one single
local I talked to knew the first thing about it. Nobody at the hotel
had heard of it, nobody connected with the trolley tour we took knew
about it, nobody in the shops we visited was aware of it. Even
the docents at Tryon Palace near which grounds the restaurant is
located didn't know it was there. Can you say “marketing fail?”
And
that's an honest-to-goodness shame because the place is simply
phenomenal. According to their website – and yes, they have
one – “Aperitivo is dedicated to offering only the finest and
freshest foods, along with the best wines from Italy.” It sounds
like a lofty goal for such an unlikely place, but it's a goal Chef
Ben Strange and his staff achieve admirably.
Don't come to Aperitivo with the idea
that you're going to sit down and tuck in to a monstrous plate of
spaghetti swimming in a mediocre red sauce. Chef Ben describes
himself as “an Irish boy,” but he has the culinary soul of an
Italian. The menu at Aperitivo consists of traditional Italian small
plates and desserts. There are no heaping, steaming platters of
quasi-Italian fare here. There are no red-checkered tablecloths and
Dean Martin does not sing “That's Amore” in the background.
(Although there's nothing wrong with him doing so. I like Dino.)
We were the first to arrive on a
Thursday evening and were greeted by an extremely friendly and
attentive host named Neal (hope the spelling is right) who conducted
us to a very nice deuce by the window overlooking the waterfront. Our
server was Mike and he was shadowed by a trainee whose name I did not
catch, but about whom I will say more in a minute. I'll say this now;
Mike's service was above reproach. I've had servers in far more
upscale places who could have taken lessons from this young man.
Little details were noted and appreciated. I hope his shadow was
paying attention.
As for that shadow, I hope I had an
impact on her as well. As you know if you've read anything I've
written, I am on a one-man campaign to stamp out bad Italian in
Italian-American eateries. And I overheard this girl putting an
extraneous “r” in “mascarpone.” You know – “MARS-kuh-pone.”
(Shudder.) So I called her over, corrected her pronunciation – it's
“mahs-kar-POHN-ay” – and gave her the speech about respecting
the language and the culture and all that stuff. And she didn't just
stand there smiling indulgently; I think she actually got it. Of
course, she may have gone back to the kitchen and laughed about the
old nutball at the deuce by the window, but I prefer to think that
she was instead passing on the lesson the distinguished Italian-ish
gentlemen had taught her.
Anyway, drinks were ordered and served
promptly. Aperitivo prides itself on its fine Italian wine selection,
but a Limoncello Collins caught my wife's eye and I am partial to
Birra Moretti, a rare find in most restaurants that was on the drink
menu here.
The menu changes periodically and
seasonally at Aperitivo. My wife chose the shrimp scampi and I opted
for crostini alla Romana. Neither of us were disappointed. My wife
pronounced the house-made pasta “outstanding.” I nicked a bite
and agreed. The shrimp were delectably fresh and local and the
garlicky, buttery sauce with just the right hint of lemon was
perfection. The crostini were nicely toasted and topped with
flavorful prosciutto di Parma and fresh mozzarella and drizzled with
a rich sage butter. Our dolce of two mini-cannoli was a
perfect conclusion to a perfect meal.
We so enjoyed Aperitivo that we
returned the next night and partook of a hearty fettuccine Bolognese
(her) and a wonderful ravioli in sage butter (me.) To finish, I stuck
with the cannoli while she went over the moon with a decadent
flourless chocolate cake. And again the service was impeccable.
In Italian traditional dining culture,
an aperitivo is a pre-meal
drink intended to stimulate the appetite. In recent years its meaning
has expanded to encompass the act of going out for a pre-meal drink,
and the Italian bars that cater to the trade generally serve a
variety of light comestibles. It is this atmosphere that New Bern's
Aperitivo attempts to emulate and it does so quite effectively. Bravo
to Chef Ben and his staff.
The
actual name of the place varies from an unwieldy Aperitivo at Lawson's
Landing Cafe at the NC History Center to Aperitivo Wine Bar to simply Aperitivo. Until their advertising
catches up, you might have to use any or all of them in order to find
it. The restaurant(s) is/are located at 529 South Front Street in
downtown New Bern. Dress is casual, parking is plentiful and
reservations are accepted but not required. Hours of operation are
from 5 to 9 on Thursday and from 5 to 11 on Friday and Saturday. Call
them at (252) 637-9307 or check out the website at
http://www.aperitivonewbern.com.
Aperitivo is a phenomenal place in a fabulous setting. But let's keep that our little secret, okay?
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